Traveling rocking-horse.



PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904.

A. HETTEL.

TRAVELING ROCKING HORSE.

.APPLIGATION FILED FEB. 3, 1904.

' 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

. //v VEN TOR info/2 JZeZZeZ WITNESS s No. 775,725. PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904. A. HETTEL. TRAVELING ROCKING HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 8, 1904 N0 MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

IN VE N 70/? (75711072 13595565 A 770E175 rs No. 775,725. PATENTED NOV. 22, 1904. A. HBTTEL.

TRAVELING ROCKING HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 3 s

T's-SHEET 3.

ATTORNEYS NHED STATES ANTON HETTEL, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIGN OR OF ONE-HALF Patented November 22, 1904.

AraNr rrrcn.

TO NICHOLAS C. SCHIED, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK.

TRAVELING ROCKING-HORSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent 1\To 775,725, dated November 22, 1904.

Application filed February 3, 1904. Serial No. 191,811. (No model.)

To a whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTON HETTEL, a citizen 1 of the United States, and a resident of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Traveling Rocking-Horse, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to improvements in traveling rocking-horses, the object being to provide an amusement device of this character of novel and simple construction, so arranged as to move forward, turn laterally, or to rock without forward or lateral movement.

I'will describe the rocking-horse embodying my invention and then point out the novel features in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a traveling rocking-horse embodying my invention, showing the position of parts when the device is used for rocking only. Fig.2 is aside ele-' vation showing the horse as rocked forward. Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the body of the horse. Fig. 4 is a plan of the mechanism for supporting the rear section of the horse. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the steering wheel, and Fig. 6 is an elevation showing the position of parts when the horse is to move forward and turn laterally.

The horse comprises a front section 5 and a rear section 6, these sections being pivotally connected at about the center of the body. As here shown, the sections have overlapping members 7, the ends of which are rounded to engage in the curved end walls of the said members, and the two sections are secured together by a pivot 8, passing centrally through the lapped members 7, and on the outer ends of which are grooved rollers 9, and guard-. straps 9 are extended across the outer faces of the rollers. The legs of the front section are rigidly attached to a platform 10, secured to the front portion of rockers 11 12. It may be here stated that each rocker is made in two sections rigidly secured together, as I find that by such a construction a much stronger rocker is provided than when made in one piece, because in sawing a curved rocker in a single length portions of the same are cut crossgrain, and therefore weakened. The legs of the rear section of the horse are connected to a platform 13, which at its rear end has pivotal connection 1 1 with a main platform 15, arranged between the rockers rearward of the platform 10. At its forward end the main platform 15 has an axle 16, on which rollers 17 are mounted, designed to engage upon the floor to give forward motion to the device, as will be hereinafter described.

Extended along the under side of the platform 15 and having bearings in the axle 16 and also in a plate 18, bolted to the rear end of the platform, is a shaft 19, having at its rear end a clutch member 20 for engaging with a flattened extension 21 on the shaft of a wheel 22, designed for steering or turning the horse laterally. The clutch member 20 comprises practically two fingers, between which the flattened extension 21 is removably engaged. The wheel 22 has its shaft-bearings in a frame 23, mounted to rotate-on astud 24,

supported by a bracket 25, bolted to and extended upward and rearward from the main platform 15.

The steering-wheel 22 is preferably provided with a tire of rubber or other suitable soft material which will add somewhat to the frictional engagement of the wheel with a carpet or floor. On the forward end of the shaft '19 is a grooved pulley 26, around which a cord or rope 27 passes, and under the pulley is a guide-plate 26. This rope or cord 27 passes up over the pulleys or rollers 9, attached to the pivot 8, thence forward around pulleys 28, arranged near the mouth of the horse. and then back to form the bridle-reins.

To aid in the movements between the two sections of the horse-body, the said two sections are connected at the top by means of an elastic band 29, connected at one end to the forward section of the horse and at the rear end to the rear section thereof. Arranged on the body of the horse is a saddle 30, from which stirrups 31 are suspended, and it will be noted that the pulleys 9 and the working parts of the cord 27, which may come underneath the riclers legs, are covered by the saddle-flaps.

Extended transversely between the forms 13 and 15 is a crank-shaft 32, which when in one position rests in a channel 33, formed in the platform 15, so that the platform 13 may engage closely against the main platform. On one end of the crank-shaft 32 is an operating-handle 3 1. A lug 35, secured to the main platform 15, passes through an opening in the swinging platform 13, and this lug is provided with a perforation to receive a locking member, here shown as a hook 36, mounted on the platform 13. The said shaft 32 has its hearings in metal plates 37 attached to the platform 15.

As a means for strengthening the rockers, brace-rods 38 are extended from the support for the platform 10 to connection with the rear portions of the rockers.

The frame 23, in which the wheel 22 has its bearings, carries a spring-plate 39 for engaging in either one of two notches 10 4.1, formed in a plate 42, attached to the bracket 25. By means of this spring-plate the wheel 22 may be held transversely of the rollers 17 or in parallelism therewith, depending upon whether the horse is to be moved forward or is to be rocked without forward movement. In the operation when a rocking movement only is desired the wheel 22 is to be locked in parallelism with the rollers 17, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 2, and at this time the two platforms 13 and 15 are to be locked together by means of the lug 35 and the hook 36. The person sitting on the saddle may cause the rocking movement by drawing rearward on the cords 27, which will move the forward portion of the horse upward, the weight of the rider being on the rear portion. Then upon releasing the drawing'strain the forward section of the horsewill swing downward, causing the horse to rock forward. The wheel 22 at this time will roll back and forth on the floor 0r carpet, while the rollers 17 will be elevated above the lower plane of the rockers. When it is desired to cause a forward movement of the horse, the hook 36 is to be moved out of engagement with the lug 35, and turning the crank-shaft to move the platform 15 down relative to the platform 13 the rollers 17 will engage with the floor. At this time the wheel 22 is to be turned transversely of the rollers 17 and the part 21 engaged in the clutch member 20, as shown in Fig. 6. Now as the rider throws his body rearward or brings pressure upon the rear section of the horse and draws the front section of the horse upward there will be a backward rocking motion, clearing the rockers from the floor, and then upon releasing the strain of the reins and by a forward movement of the body the front section of the horse will move downward, causing the rockers at about their cenplat- 1 tral portions to engage with the floor, so that upon a further rocking forward motion the rollers 17 will be drawn toward the platform 10 and the steering-wheel 22 will be raised from the floor, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6. Then as the backward action is repeated the horse will be caused to move to a new position, and evidently by drawing upon either the right or left rein the shaft 19 may be rotated, so that while the wheel 22 is in engagement with the floor and the rockers elevated therefrom the horse may be steered either to the right or to the left.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. A traveling rocking-horse comprising a 'body consisting of two pivotally-connected sections, rockers to which the forward section is attached, a platform movable lengthwise of the rockers and to which the rear section is attached, a shaft supported by the platform, a wheel connected to the rear end of said shaft and adapted to be turned to bring its sides transverse to the forward movement of the horse, a pulley on said shaft, pulleys on the opposite sides of the horse-body, pulleys on the opposite sides of the body near the front,

and an operating-cord extending around the several pulleys.

2. A traveling rocking-horse comprising a body consisting of two pivotally-cOnnected sections, a pair of rockers to which the forward section of the body is rigidly connected, a platform having movement lengthwise of therockers and to which the rear section of the body is connected, means for causing a relative movement between said platform and rockers for causing a forward movement, and a steering mechanism for turning the horse laterally.

3. Atraveling rocking-horse, comprising a body consisting of two pivotally-connected sections, a pair of rockers to which the forward section of the body is connected, a main platform arranged between the rockers and movable lengthwise thereof, rollers supporting said platform, a platform having swinging connection with the said main platform and to which the rear section of the body is connected, and means for causing forward movement of the platforms relatively to the rockers through the medium of an upward iwilnging motion of the forward section of the 4:. Atravelingrockinghorse, comprising a body consisting of two pivotally-connected sections, a pair of rockers to which the forward section is attached, a main platform movable longitudinally between the rockers,a platform having swinging connection with the main platform, and to which the rear section of the body is attached, rollers supporting the forward end of said main platform, a shaft eX- tended lengthwise of said main platform, a wheel on the rear end of said shaft adapted to IIO turn at right angles to or in parallelism with said rollers, a pulley on the front end of said shaft, rollers on the opposite side of the body, other pulleys at the opposite sides of the forward portion of the body, and an operatingcord extending around the several pulleys.

5. A traveling rocking-horse comprising a body portion consisting of two pivotally-connecteol sections, rockers to which the forward section is rigidly connected, a main platform arranged between the rockers, a platform mounted to swing on the main platform and to which the rear section of the body is connected, means for locking said platforms in close connection, means for causing a separation of one platform relatively to the other, a shaft extended along the under side of the platforms,a frame supported by the main platform and adapted to rotate relatively thereto, a steering-wheel supported in said frame, means for removably connecting the shaft of the steering-wheel with said first-named shaft, and means for causing a rotary motion of the firstnamed shaft.

6. A traveling rocking-horse comprising a body consisting of two pivotally-connected members, a pair of rockers to which the front section of the body is connected, a main platform arranged between the rockers, aplatform mounted to swing on the main platform, and to which the rear section of the body is connected, rollers for supporting the said platforms, a crank-shaft extended transversely of the platforms and between the same, the main platform being provided with a recess to receive said shaft, means for locking the two platforms together, a shaft extended length wise of the main platform and having a clutch member at its rear end, a frame supported by the main platform and arranged to rotate, a wheel supported in said platform and having a shaft portion for engaging in said clutch, and means for rotating the first-named shaft.

7. A rocking-horse comprising a body, consisting of two pivotally-connected sections, rockers on which the forward section is mounted, a platform to which the rear section is connected, rollers attached to the platform for causing a forward movement of the horse, a steering-roller, a rotary frame carried by the platform and in which the steering-roller is arranged, a spring carried by said frame, and a fixed plate provided with notches for receiving said spring to hold the steering-wheel in adjusted position.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two sub scribing witnesses.

ANTON HETTEL Witnesses:

JACOB G. HETTEL, JACOB SoHIED. 

